Description du projet
Neurotoxine pour le traitement de l’arthrose
L’arthrose est une maladie dégénérative associée à la dégradation du collagène dans le cartilage des articulations qui protège les os. Elle se caractérise par une douleur débilitante qui est généralement traitée à l’aide d’anti-inflammatoires non stéroïdiens et d’opioïdes. Toutefois, ces interventions ne sont pas toujours efficaces ou s’accompagnent d’effets secondaires, ce qui exige de mettre au point de nouveaux traitements. Le projet Arth-Alleve, financé par le CER, entend répondre à ce besoin médical non satisfait en développant un traitement non pharmacologique. Sa stratégie se fonde sur l’utilisation de molécules neurotoxiques pour bloquer les nerfs associés à la douleur provoquée par l’arthrose. Ces molécules seront arrimées à des particules d’hydrogel qui les empêcheront de s’échapper dans la circulation sanguine, afin de produire un effet localisé et de contribuer à une amélioration significative de la qualité de vie des patients.
Objectif
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common cause of chronic pain in older persons in Europe and is the leading cause of disability. The disease is a condition affecting the joint cartilage and subchondral bone and is frequently accompanied by pain, stiffness, and long-term disability. Chronic pain is the most prominent symptom in most people with OA, and is the most important determinant of disability in patients with osteoarthritis. Treatment guidelines for OA pain management uniformly recommends a range of pharmacological therapies, including paracetamol, NSAIDs and opioids, together with non-pharmacological therapies. However, such therapies are restricted by considerable side effects and limited efficacy, as well as country-specific restrictions on prescriptions (e.g. on opioid use). Given the risks and side effects associated with current therapies, the long-term outlook for OA patients is bleak. Currently there exists no non-pharm effective therapy for OA pain management. OA patients are left with two options: Manage the debilitating chronic pain using over-the-counter and/or prescription medication, with all of the risk and side effects associated with those therapies; or try to independently cope with the pain and all of the personal, economic and societal challenges that chronic pain presented. Within the ambitious Arth-alleve project, we propose to develop a non-pharma side-effect-free long-term therapy for OA patients, providing new hope to the growing cohort of European citizens affected by this debilitating disease. The Arth-Alleve project will explore the concept of attaching neurotoxin molecules to hydrogel particles, to enable the mechanism of nerve blocking to occur, with the hydrogel acting as a long-term anchor preventing migration of the molecule from the target site. This project will truly transform the treatment of chronic OA pain, and the Quality of Life of the large cohort of European patients suffering from the condition.
Champ scientifique
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Régime de financement
ERC - Support for frontier research (ERC)Institution d’accueil
H91 Galway
Irlande